National U-23 defender, Kingsley Udoh has blamed the ouster of Dream Team V from the All Africa Games on ill luck and a bad day. They lost 2-0 against Ghana in Kumasi. But the defender insisted that the Black Meteors second goal should not have stood.
The result meant that the Nigerians were eliminated from the All Africa Games football tournament on the away goals rule, but Udoh says they were up against it from the very start.
“We gave our best but unfortunately we had a bad day. Things didn’t work out the way we planned and we are sorry for missing out on a place at the All Africa Games. Many things worked against us the moment we arrived in Kumasi.
They frustrated us psychologically and not all footballers know how to fight a psychological war. They were unfair to us. We dressed outside because the dressing room was messed up. Also, the officiating was very bad. The referee was just making unnecessary calls, giving unnecessary free-kicks in front of our box and giving fouls against us with the slightest of contacts.
The Ghanaians’ second goal shouldn’t have been given because the ball had already gone out and our players were standing. The Ghanaians continued play and the referee didn’t stop them,” Udoh, who captained the team in the absence of Lukman Haruna, said.
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